Attach to Form 990 or Form 990-EZ.
Go to
www.irs.gov/Form990 for instructions and the latest information.
| (i) Name of supported organization | (ii) EIN | (iii) Type of organization (described on lines 1- 10 above (see instructions)) | (iv) Is the organization listed in your governing document? | (v) Amount of monetary support (see instructions) | (vi) Amount of other support (see instructions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | |||||
|
Total |
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Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grant.") .. | 284,331 | 301,568 | 398,596 | 511,916 | 563,896 | 2,060,307 |
| 2 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf.... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge.. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Total. Add lines 1 through 3 | 284,331 | 301,568 | 398,596 | 511,916 | 563,896 | 2,060,307 |
| 5 | The portion of total contributions by each person (other than a governmental unit or publicly supported organization) included on line 1 that exceeds 2% of the amount shown on line 11, column (f).. | 580,176 | |||||
| 6 | Public support. Subtract line 5 from line 4. | 1,480,131 | |||||
Calendar year
(or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Amounts from line 4.. | 284,331 | 301,568 | 398,596 | 511,916 | 563,896 | 2,060,307 |
| 8 | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources... | 0 | 0 | 0 | 355 | 169 | 524 |
| 9 | Net income from unrelated business activities, whether or not the business is regularly carried on.. | ||||||
| 10 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.).. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Total support. Add lines 7 through 10 | 2,060,831 | |||||
Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees received. (Do not include any "unusual grants.") . | ||||||
| 2 | Gross receipts from admissions, merchandise sold or services performed, or facilities furnished in any activity that is related to the organization's tax-exempt purpose | ||||||
| 3 | Gross receipts from activities that are not an unrelated trade or business under section 513 ..... | ||||||
| 4 | Tax revenues levied for the organization's benefit and either paid to or expended on its behalf... | ||||||
| 5 | The value of services or facilities furnished by a governmental unit to the organization without charge | ||||||
| 6 | Total. Add lines 1 through 5 | ||||||
| 7a | Amounts included on lines 1, 2, and 3 received from disqualified persons | ||||||
| b | Amounts included on lines 2 and 3 received from other than disqualified persons that exceed the greater of $5,000 or 1% of the amount on line 13 for the year. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 7a and 7b.. | ||||||
| 8 | Public support. (Subtract line 7c from line 6.) | ||||||
Calendar year (or fiscal year beginning in) ![]() |
(a) 2016 | (b) 2017 | (c) 2018 | (d) 2019 | (e) 2020 | (f) Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Amounts from line 6... | ||||||
| 10a | Gross income from interest, dividends, payments received on securities loans, rents, royalties and income from similar sources.. | ||||||
| b | Unrelated business taxable income (less section 511 taxes) from businesses acquired after June 30, 1975. | ||||||
| c | Add lines 10a and 10b. | ||||||
| 11 | Net income from unrelated business activities not included in line 10b, whether or not the business is regularly carried on. | ||||||
| 12 | Other income. Do not include gain or loss from the sale of capital assets (Explain in Part VI.) .. | ||||||
| 13 | Total support. (Add lines 9, 10c, 11, and 12.).. | ||||||
| Section A - Adjusted Net Income | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
||||
| 1 | Net short-term capital gain | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Other gross income (see instructions) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Add lines 1 through 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Depreciation and depletion | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Portion of operating expenses paid or incurred for production or collection of gross income or for management, conservation, or maintenance of property held for production of income (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Other expenses (see instructions) | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Adjusted Net Income (subtract lines 5, 6 and 7 from line 4) | 8 | ||||
| Section B - Minimum Asset Amount | (A) Prior Year |
(B) Current Year (optional) |
||||
| 1 | Aggregate fair market value of all non-exempt-use assets (see instructions for short tax year or assets held for part of year): | 1 | ||||
| a | Average monthly value of securities | 1a | ||||
| b | Average monthly cash balances | 1b | ||||
| c | Fair market value of other non-exempt-use assets | 1c | ||||
| d | Total (add lines 1a, 1b, and 1c) | 1d | ||||
| e |
Discount claimed for blockage or other factors (explain in detail in Part VI): |
|||||
| 2 | Acquisition indebtedness applicable to non-exempt use assets | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Subtract line 2 from line 1d | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Cash deemed held for exempt use. Enter 0.015 of line 3 (for greater amount, see instructions). | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Net value of non-exempt-use assets (subtract line 4 from line 3) | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Multiply line 5 by 0.035 | 6 | ||||
| 7 | Recoveries of prior-year distributions | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Minimum Asset Amount (add line 7 to line 6) | 8 | ||||
| Section C - Distributable Amount | Current Year | |||||
| 1 | Adjusted net income for prior year (from Section A, line 8, Column A) | 1 | ||||
| 2 | Enter 85% of line 1 | 2 | ||||
| 3 | Minimum asset amount for prior year (from Section B, line 8, Column A) | 3 | ||||
| 4 | Enter greater of line 2 or line 3 | 4 | ||||
| 5 | Income tax imposed in prior year | 5 | ||||
| 6 | Distributable Amount. Subtract line 5 from line 4, unless subject to emergency temporary reduction (see instructions) | 6 | ||||
| Section D - Distributions | Current Year | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Amounts paid to supported organizations to accomplish exempt purposes | 1 | |
|
2
Amounts paid to perform activity that directly furthers exempt purposes of supported organizations, in excess of income from activity |
2 | |
| 3 Administrative expenses paid to accomplish exempt purposes of supported organizations | 3 | |
| 4 Amounts paid to acquire exempt-use assets | 4 | |
| 5 Qualified set-aside amounts (prior IRS approval required - provide details in Part VI) | 5 | |
| 6 Other distributions (describe in Part VI). See instructions | 6 | |
| 7Total annual distributions. Add lines 1 through 6. | 7 | |
|
8
Distributions to attentive supported organizations to which the organization is responsive (provide details in Part VI). See instructions |
8 | |
| 9 Distributable amount for 2020 from Section C, line 6 | 9 | |
| 10 Line 8 amount divided by Line 9 amount | 10 | |
| Section E - Distribution Allocations (see instructions) |
(i) Excess Distributions |
(ii) Underdistributions Pre-2020 |
(iii) Distributable Amount for 2020 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Distributable amount for 2020 from Section C, line 6 | ||||
|
2
Underdistributions, if any, for years prior to 2019 (reasonable cause required-- explain in Part VI). See instructions. |
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| 3 Excess distributions carryover, if any, to 2020: | ||||
| a From 2015....... | ||||
| b From 2016....... | ||||
| c From 2017....... | ||||
| d From 2018....... | ||||
| e From 2019....... | ||||
| fTotal of lines 3a through e | ||||
| g Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| h Applied to 2020 distributable amount | ||||
|
i
Carryover from 2015 not applied (see instructions) |
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| j Remainder. Subtract lines 3g, 3h, and 3i from line 3f. | ||||
| 4Distributions for 2020 from Section D, line 7: | ||||
| $ | ||||
| a Applied to underdistributions of prior years | ||||
| b Applied to 2020 distributable amount | ||||
| c Remainder. Subtract lines 4a and 4b from line 4. | ||||
|
5
Remaining underdistributions for years prior to 2020, if any. Subtract lines 3g and 4a from line 2. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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|
6
Remaining underdistributions for 2020. Subtract lines 3h and 4b from line 1. If the amount is greater than zero, explain in Part VI. See instructions. |
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|
7 Excess distributions carryover to 2021. Add lines 3j and 4c. |
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| 8 Breakdown of line 7: | ||||
| a Excess from 2016..... | ||||
| b Excess from 2017..... | ||||
| c Excess from 2018..... | ||||
| d Excess from 2019..... | ||||
| e Excess from 2020..... | ||||
| Facts And Circumstances Test |
|---|
| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|
| Software ID: | 20012124 |
| Software Version: | v1.00 |
Attach to Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Go to www.irs.gov/Form990 for the latest information.
| Return Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Form 990, Part III, Line 1 | 4,523 Minnesotans received direct free legal care services for a combined 4,676 different legal issues and an additional 6,344 received outreach and education via 166 group presentations to Minnesota cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, attorneys and health care providers. Cancer Legal Care helps Minnesotans all over the state meet basic needs by providing legal care in the following areas: Insurance Coverage (health insurance, short/long term disability); Housing and Financial (eviction, foreclosure, creditor issues, bankruptcy); Employment (ADA/MHRA discrimination/reasonable accommodation, FMLA); Legal Planning (health care directives, guardianship, wills, Powers of Attorney); Public Benefits (Social Security Disability, Medicaid). By receiving critical legal care at a vulnerable time, Minnesotans affected by cancer experience enhanced financial security and family stability and report improved health and well-being. Cancer Legal Care works closely with oncology providers and cancer support groups throughout the state and is the only organization providing direct legal care services to the Minnesota cancer community. Cancer Legal Care exists for three reasons: 1. The prevalence of cancer. Like the rest of the nation, 1 in 3 Minnesota women and 1 in 2 Minnesota men will be diagnosed with a potentially serious cancer at some point in their life. Per the Minnesota Department of Health and the American Cancer Society, every year approximately 25,080 new cases are diagnosed and 9,200 people die from cancer in Minnesota, and as of 2016 an estimated 276,770 Minnesotans were cancer survivors. Cancer affects people at every stage of life and across all income levels. 2. The financial devastation that cancer brings. Studies abound regarding cancer's financial devastation and the incredible impact it has on health care decision making and quality of life, so much so that cancer's financial devastation has its own term of art: financial toxicity. A recent study done over 16 years which looked at 9.5 million cancer survivors found that 42% of all newly diagnosed cancer patients over the age of 50 will deplete their life savings within two years of diagnosis. Cancer survivors are 2.5 times more likely to file for bankruptcy than people without cancer, and those cancer survivors who do file are 80% more likely to die than cancer patients who don't file for bankruptcy protection. At CLC, we see this stark reality in our clients' lives each day. Behind each one of these statistics is an individual or a family in crisis. Financial toxicity and the stress it brings are often more life-threatening than the cancer itself. 3. The lack of any other resource for this critically needed legal care. The legal issues cancer patients face surrounding employment, health and private disability insurance, and estate planning are not typically within the array of services provided by traditional legal aid. Moreover, eligibility for traditional legal aid service is tied to a very strict income cut off of 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG). In 2020, this equates to a gross annual income of $25,760/single person and $53,000 family of four. Cancer survivors, even those whose sole income is from disability benefits, often find themselves in the gap between the help traditional legal aid provides and the affordability of the private bar. Consequently, CLC takes a different approach given our clients' legal needs and the financial freefall in which they find themselves. We have learned that regardless of income, people all across the income spectrum have worries and questions about legal issues that arise because of their diagnosis and treatment. Accordingly, CLC provides legal counseling and information services to anyone in need regardless of income. The only limitation on our free services is in the estate planning realm, where full estate planning services are limited to those at or below 300% FPG. In 2020 69% of our clients had income under 300% FPG. Additionally, we serve the entire state with 18% of our 2020 clients living in Greater Minnesota and 82% in the Twin Cities Metro Area. In 2020, the average age of CLC's clients was 54 years - in the prime of their working, and often, family-raising years. Additionally, 44% of our 2020 clients are living with Stage IV cancer. The combined effect results in amplified consequences if a cancer survivor's specific legal needs remain unmet. Mounting medical bills coupled with job loss/unpaid leave all too often lead to financial devastation for the entire family. Many middle-class Minnesotans face abject poverty for the first time in their lives following their cancer diagnosis and experience additional complications for their survivorship stemming from their poverty. These are health problems that have legal, not medical, solutions. Legal care is often the key to ensuring basic needs are met and means of providing short and long term financial security and family stability. Examples of the cancer community's need for legal care and the difference it makes one family at a time, include: 1. Effectively negotiating an extended, job-protected leave in order to maintain employment during and after treatment; 2. Understanding the critical timing issues of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) so mistakes aren't made resulting in an otherwise unnecessary delay in the receipt of cash benefits and medical coverage; 3. Creating guardianship documents to ease the lives of children as they transition from the care of their deceased parent to another adult. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4a | financial security and family stability effectively and efficiently. The following is a breakdown of client legal needs and areas of legal care provided: 15% Insurance Coverage (health insurance, short/long term disability); 15% Housing and Financial (eviction, foreclosure, creditor issues, bankruptcy); 14% Employment (ADA/MHRA discrimination/reasonable accommodation, FMLA); 27% Legal Planning (health care directives, guardianship, wills, Powers of Attorney); 20% Public Benefits (Social Security Disability, Medicaid); 9% Other (immigration, tax, family). The majority of our clients become impoverished because of their cancer due to lengthy periods of unpaid time away from work and high insurance premiums, deductibles and out of pocket costs. They do not have the financial ability to pay for an attorney's assistance in creating the various legal documents they need to ensure the wishes for their care and that of their family are carried out, or where to turn for unbiased, professional advice regarding the many decisions they are facing and questions they have. Client Story: How Legal Care Brings Peace of Mind. Erin, 48, was recently diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. Like many of our clients, Erin brought her family along when she reached out to us. In Erin's case, her sisters Shannon and Kerry were on the call with us to make sure all of Erin's questions were addressed, and to serve as that all-important backup for the many things Erin would need to remember and do over the coming weeks. Various employment, insurance, and estate planning issues were weighing heavily on Erin's mind, and we were able to go through all of them. We discussed protections afforded under the Family Medical Leave Act and how those work with other leave provisions, such as personal time off and long-term disability benefits, as well as other employment protections such as reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Employment issues are also often tied up with insurance issues, including COBRA and the possibility of Social Security Disability Insurance in the future. We made sure to provide enough information to answer Erin's immediate questions but reminded the family that we work with clients as issues or questions come up at each stage of their survivorship. Clients don't have to deal with every issue in one meeting. We are here for them now and later. Beyond these employment and insurance concerns, Erin had questions about estate planning documents, including a will and Power of Attorney. We were also able to provide information and guidance on these issues. Erin's story is representative of the wide array of issues many newly- diagnosed clients face. Often a new cancer patient will call us a few times over their cancer journey, as new issues arise. Erin's story also represents the importance of the love and dedication of family. These loved ones make such a big difference in our clients' lives. They are often the ones who contact CLC and do all the heavy lifting, gathering documents, getting information together and making sure things get taken care of. We know how much this means to Erin's survivorship and are humbled to witness the love and caregiving that her sisters, Shannon and Kerry, provided. An additional offering under the umbrella of our Legal Care Program, is our Foreclosure Prevention Program (FPP). We began this work on July 1, 2017, with funding from the State of Minnesota's Legal Service Advisory Council with the goal of providing targeted legal care to the community of Minnesotans who are at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG), affected (in treatment or finished with treatment, or their spouse) by any type of cancer (no limitation based on diagnosis of a specific type of cancer), and are in jeopardy of foreclosure with the mounting medical debt and financial hardships they face. This work continued in 2020. By securing employment, insurance coverage and disability income, our clients will have an income stream that can be used to support all of the regular expenses of life, primarily their housing expenses, that continue even in the face of cancer. By providing legal counsel and advice as to the legal processes involved and protections that apply, our clients are able to make informed decisions and go forward with a realistic road map of what they can expect. By collaborating with other cancer care organizations, we are able to connect our clients to other income replacement supports (primarily for food and non-medical expense one-time grants) to help them through lean periods. In 2020, the FPP served 91 clients, 96% of whom remain in their homes with no foreclosure actions pending. A significant expansion of our legal care work took place in 2020 with the creation of our ICARE Program under the umbrella of our Legal Care Program offerings. ICARE (Insurance Claim Advocacy and REsolution) addresses the growing number of health insurance coverage denials due to many factors including shrinking networks and ever-changing pre-authorization requirements. In 2019 we piloted some work in this area to overturn wrongful insurance denials by bringing on staff a retired health insurance executive to help guide this work. Working in tandem with our staff attorneys, this additional legal care resulted in a total of $507,129 in previously denied charges covered by insurance or wrongful out of pocket charges returned for thirteen of our clients-more than the expenses of running our entire organization for the year. With this successful pilot effort, we realized that there was much more work that CLC was uniquely positioned to take on. Two more staff attorneys with the rare expertise needed to expand and lead this work were hired and ICARE was launched in 2020. In 2020, the ICARE team assisted 21 clients who not only were facing a cancer diagnosis, but also the nightmare of an insurance denial related to either their cancer treatment or their disability coverage. As you might imagine, these cases are often very complex. Accordingly, six of these client cases have continued into 2021. For the others, ICARE was able to secure insurance coverage in 12 of those 15 cases. This resulted in $1,214,313 of previously denied cancer treatments being covered by insurance and in disability insurance claims being approved and paid for our clients who could not work due to their cancer treatment. These claims ranged from $1,507 for one client to $565,000 in chemotherapy treatments for another. All of the ICARE work is done at no charge and without any income eligibility limitations. Why? 1. Very few families could afford an attorney's help in light of cancer's growing financial toxicity. 2. Any barrier to reaching out or getting help more often than not becomes a non-starter for people who are at their physical, emotional, and financial breaking point. We know that insurance issues are at the top of the most stressful things our clients face. Client Story: How ICARE Helps. In August, Cancer Legal Care was contacted by Ethan's parents. Ethan is an 11-year-old boy who had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Given his diminished lung capacity and the risk of COVID-19, Ethan's oncology team determined his optimal treatment would be a newer chemotherapy vs. an older type with high risk of permanent lung damage. About a week after Ethan's diagnosis, his health insurance company denied the use of the better chemo treatment, meaning Ethan's parents would have to pay out-of-pocket for the most appropriate treatment for their son. At $33,000 per round, this meant a cost of at least $165,000 to Ethan's family. CLC's ICARE team got to work coordinating an approach. Bill researched how other insurance companies around the country have been covering the newer chemotherapy. Rachel worked with the oncology team at the hospital, gathering supporting documentation and a letter from Ethan's physician with detailed medical information. Erin then used this information to craft legal arguments in what would become a 53-page appeal. The appeal was sent on Tuesday, September 1. Three days later, the insurance company notified Ethan's parents they were reversing the denial and would cover the newer and optimal chemotherapy treatments Ethan needs. Ethan is now cancer-free and doing great. He no longer needs chemotherapy, and his scans all show a very healthy kid. Now, Ethan can focus all of his energy on things like school and his favorite hobbies. |
| Form 990, Part III, Line 4b | and swift financial fallout were right behind it; 4. When we couldn't meet clients in person to sign legal documents, one of our staff attorneys became a Remote Online Notary and we held phone and video calls and created social-distanced signing instructions; 5. When employment leave laws and unemployment insurance expanded, we read through the new laws, attended educational webinars, worked very closely with our volunteer employment attorneys for guidance and advised oncology social workers on the need for medical letters for employers. One surprising thing we learned is that our model of program delivery is very well suited to working remotely! The vast majority of our work has always been done over the phone, as our clients so often prefer to talk with us from the comfort and privacy of their home on their own time and when they are not rushed and have all their papers with them. Our work continued without interruption as we switched to working remotely on March 12,2020. Due to the restrictions COVID-19 placed on health care centers and hospitals in terms of limiting access and entry to all but first responders and frontline care providers, the mobile legal clinics CLC worked to establish onsite at community partner locations in 2019 were all put on hiatus for 2020. We look forward to resuming these successful outreach efforts when safe again to do so. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b | CLC's CEO/ED and its Executive Committee review the draft 990. Any questions are addressed, and any necessary revisions are made. The full board of directors is then supplied with an electronic copy of the final 990 prior to filing. The board is encouraged to review the 990 and ask any questions that they have. The board discusses the filed 990 at the next board meeting and approves the filing with the State of Minnesota. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c | CLC's board members and officers are all subject to a conflict of interest policy that requires decision making on any transaction that would affect any of those individual's "material financial interest(s)" or would significantly affect their personal interest(s) ("appearance conflicts") to be affected on action of the entire board, after the board has been given prior notice of the individual(s) and the conflict(s), and with only Directors who are independent of the party with the actual or perceived conflict participating. The question as to whether an individual has a conflict falling within the policy is decided by the board, not including in its deliberations or vote the party(ies) whose conflict is at issue. All potential, perceived or actual conflicts are reviewed on an annual basis, and every year at our first board meeting of the year in January, each board member completes and signs our conflicts disclosure |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 | The CEO/ED's salary is set each year by the Executive Committee, comprised of our board chair, secretary and treasurer. The Executive Committee reviews the most recent "Minnesota Nonprofit Salary and Benefit Survey" prepared by the Minnesota Council for Nonprofits in setting the Executive Director's salary. All of the board members/officers are independent. The publication provides helpful listing of comparable salaries, benefits and other compensation measures for similar positions, relative to education and experience across a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Compensation is also based on the CEO/ED's job performance over the past year. The Executive Committee meets with the CEO/ED to review and assess progress made during the year in meeting goals set forth as part of the CEO/ED's written job requirement and performance obligations. |
| Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 | The website at page http://www.cancerlegalcare.org/who-we-are/governing-docments.html clearly states Cancer Legal Care's conflict of interest statement, governing documents, financial statements and other public documents are located at our office at 3503 High Point Drive Suite 270 Oakdale, MN 55128. |
| Form 990, Part XI, Line 9 | Adjustment for rounding |
| Software ID: | 20012124 |
| Software Version: | v1.00 |